If your business is trying to reach potential customers who are under the age of 35, you might want to start researching how other businesses are using Twitch in their marketing efforts and find out what is and isn’t working. This is true even if you have products or services that don’t have anything remotely to do with video games.
However, before you explore what other businesses are doing, you probably first want to know why you should invest some of your marketing budget on efforts to reach Twitch users in the first place.
That’s what this post attempts to do.
Future posts will highlight additional case studies on how marketers can use Twitch to reach their potential customers.
Why Twitch? And, Why Now?
In case you are unaware of what it is, Twitch is a website that primarily focuses on video game live streaming.
What you also need to know is that Twitch has many things going for it.
This includes the fact that many people are watching user-generated content on social media sites that allow people to broadcast live videos. These sites include Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook. So, Twitch doesn’t have to explain its value to its audience.
And, given the fact that we are still living through the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are self-isolating and looking for inexpensive entertainment.
Many of these people have turned to video games to alleviate boredom.
A recent eMarketer article confirms the trend.
According to eMarketer, “The number of US gamers will jump 5.0% in 2020—the highest growth rate since 2015—to 174.7 million.” (Note: This statistic is based on online gamers.)
The same article points out that the number of Twitch users has grown by 26.2% this year. Furthermore, eMarketer reports that “17.0% of digital video viewers in the US will watch content on Twitch, up from 13.9% last year.”
What might surprise some people is the fact that while Twitch is known for video game live streaming, it’s not limited to video-game-related content.
In the eMarketer article, Peter Vahle, eMarketer forecasting analyst, is quoted as saying, “While more people are watching video game live streams on the platform, nongaming channels like ‘Music’ and ‘Just Chatting’ are attracting many first-time viewers.”
Need more proof of Twitch’s potential?
At the time of this writing, Twitch was ranked #34 globally by Alexa and #20 in the United States.
And, remember, Twitch is owned by Amazon. The resources Amazon brings to the table should help the site grow as time goes on.
For further stats that might help convince you about Twitch’s potential to help you reach your target audience, check out the article published on the Influencer Marketing Hub website.
A Few Example of How Businesses Are Using Twitch
Last month, I highlighted how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) used Twitch to help Get Out the Vote (GOTV) for the Democratic Party.
If getting a high number of viewers was the only goal, her efforts were extremely successful. I’m not sure how much it helped in changing the results of the election, but Joe Biden is the president-elect, and both AOC and Ilhan Omar got reelected, so it probably didn’t hurt.
On Friday, November 27, 2020, she once again live-streamed an Among Us gaming session on Twitch and raised $200,000 for charity. Not bad for playing a video game for about five hours!
We did it!
$200k raised in one livestream (on a whim!) for eviction defense, food pantries, and more.
This is going to make such a difference for those who need it most right now.
Thank you all
https://t.co/KX5m5GXJ9B
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 28, 2020
However, politicians aren’t the only ones finding success on Twitch.
In September, Burberry became the first luxury fashion brand to partner with Twitch.
According to an article on the Vogue Business website, “Twitch is confident that luxury fashion has a place on the platform, says Adam Harris, global head of brand partnerships at the company.”
“The younger generation in particular are very savvy,” Harris is quoted as saying. “It’s quite hard to get them to engage with brands and activities, but with Twitch it’s a live community-based experience. People are able to simultaneously watch something and discuss in real time. This opens up a whole host of opportunities for Burberry.”
According to the article, the hour-long Twitch stream of the London Fashion Week Burberry Spring/Summer 2021 show had approximately 42,000 concurrent views. Not bad.
A quick Google search will uncover articles that explain the other ways marketers are currently using Twitch, including these posts on the HubSpot, Social Sprout, and Mediakix websites.
Don’t Forget to Use Other Social Networks to Announce the Live Stream
As AOC proved, if you have an audience on one social networking site (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, etc.) then it makes sense to announce the Twitch live stream on that site. It will hopefully get some of your business’s followers to join and, even better, it might create some viral word-of-mouth that gets people who don’t follow your business on social media to attend the event.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of opportunities for your business to use Twitch in your marketing efforts, particularly in the next few months.
That said, eMarketer thinks that after the COVID-19 vaccines bring life back to normal, growth will slow for both Twitch and video games, in general.
That may be true, but there’s still a fairly good chance that your business will be able to leverage Twitch to achieve your goals for many years, particularly if your business is trying to reach younger consumers.
Keep in mind, Twitch won’t be right for every business. That’s why experts always recommend that you measure and test what works and make adjustments, as needed.